Everything you need to know about why Halton's candidates are standing ahead of tomorrow's election

Everything you need to know about why Halton's candidates are standing ahead of tomorrow's election

WITH just hours to go before the country goes to the polls, do you know who you will be voting for?

Ahead of tomorrow's General Election each of the Halton parliamentary candidates have issued a statement to tell you why they think they should be given a seat in Westminster...

DEREK TWIGG, Labour's candidate hoping to be re-elected as Halton's MP, said: "I am proud to come from Halton. It is a great place to live and has seen many improvements over the past 20 years.

"I will work hard for my community – I will put Halton first.

"I am campaigning on my record of delivering for Halton. I helped bring tens of millions of pounds of investment for our transport system, local NHS, schools and businesses.

"I am a strong voice for Halton.

"My priorities if re-elected will be to stand up for our NHS, which is facing a crisis under this Tory government with longer waiting times, patients waiting on trolleys and a shortage of GPs.

"Labour will ensure our NHS will get an extra £37 billion over the course of the next Parliament. Mental health must be given the same priority as physical health.

"I want to see the end of cuts to schools budgets. Many schools in Halton are not receiving the funding they need with some reducing staff – our children deserve better.

"Labour will increase schools' funding.

"I will campaign for more investment in jobs, skills and apprenticeships. SMEs need to be better supported by the Government and I will continue to work closely with businesses in Halton.

"Under the Tory government too many people can only find low paid and insecure jobs, with more people relying on food banks.

"Our pensioners must be looked after and I support the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign.

"The majority of people in Halton voted to leave the EU. We must now get on with it and secure the best deal for the UK."

MATTHEW LLOYD, the Conservative Party's candidate, said: "I was born and raised in Warrington and have been a councillor on Cheshire East Council and a school governor, but I am certainly not a career politician.

"Since attending Cardiff University I have been lucky enough to have a successful career in IT that has taken me around the world and have spent time living in Hong Kong, Sydney and Boston.

"I now own my own software business, which I have built into an international company with offices in the UK, America and China.

"These are the skills the country, and Halton, need to ensure we make a great success of the fantastic opportunities Brexit presents.

"This part of England was built on world-class businesses trading globally.

"We now have the opportunity to once again look outwards beyond our shores and succeed exporting around the world.

"However to make this bright future for our country a reality we need the strong and stable leadership which only Theresa May can offer.

"If you elect me as your MP on June 8 I will put all my energy into fighting for Halton.

"I will work with, not against, the hopefully re-elected Conservative government to make sure we get the infrastructure and well-paid jobs we need in Widnes, Runcorn and Hale.

"Only by building a strong local and national economy can we afford the world class education, NHS and social care services we need and deserve."

RYAN BATE, Liberal Democrats' candidate, said: "I am not a career politician with little experience of the real world.

"I am a teacher and I can see that under the Conservatives' so-called fairer funding for schools policy the schools in Halton face losing £8 million of funding by 2020, and it is children and teachers who will suffer.

"I am furious and I am ready to fight that every inch of the way. Halton deserves better.

"This area desperately needs strong opposition to bad policies.

"In the EU referendum Halton’s Labour MP believed that our place was firmly in the EU, yet thanks to his safe seat habits his remain campaign was almost invisible.

"Since then he has made a U-turn, voting to take the UK out of the EU in spite of knowing that this vicious Brexit we are headed to will be disastrous for thousands of export dependent jobs in Widnes and Runcorn’s industries.

"With safe seat politics and no local leadership, Halton hasn’t had the leadership it deserves from someone who is willing to fight for its interests.

"They have failed us on air quality, which means we have some of the worst rates of lung disease in the country.

"They have failed us on health, where so much damage from our industries needs to be managed.

"Halton deserves better for having been a key part of our country’s successful chemical, soap and manufacturing industries.

"The Liberal Democrats are strong on environmental policies and strong on health, with a pledge to invest £6 billion into the NHS and social care system.

"I am delighted to be standing here in Halton again and offering people a real alternative to the Tories and Labour.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are fighting consistently on school cuts, the NHS and social care.

"We put people first and we want to give people a say on the final Brexit deal, so that we can be proud of the Britain which we pass on to our children and our grandchildren.

“The Liberal Democrats have a strong local record whenever we have been given the opportunity.

"So vote Ryan Bate for the better, more open, more tolerant and more united Halton that the people here deserve.”

GLYN REDICAN, Ukip's candidate, said: "I have been a resident of Runcorn all my life and live in the Mersey ward.

"I have worked both sides of the river before owning my own business in the old town in Runcorn.

"I know the problems we face in the next three years will not be easy but we will come through this as a stronger, better country and Ukip will be here in Halton to represent the 57 per cent who voted to leave the EU.

"Unlike Labour, we want to control our borders and have a controlled immigration policy, and to not be under the control of unelected bureaucrats in Brussels.

"Locally we are the only party that is actively opposed to stopping the tolling of the Silver Jubilee and new Mersey Gateway bridges.

"Why have we been dragged under the umbrella of the Mersey region without any consultation?

"Ukip wants Halton to remain in Cheshire.

"Why was this not put to the residents of Halton?

"We would keep the NHS free at the point of entry, abolishing car parking charges implemented by the Labour government.

"In terms of social care, we are opposed to the present Labour council's policy of shutting down care homes in order to save money, causing the so-called bed-blocking crisis.

"On June 8 make a difference. Vote for Glyn Redican, vote for a fairer better Halton, vote Ukip."

VICTOR TURTON, independent candidate, said: "Want to save the NHS? Want to create new jobs here in Halton? Want to create and support infrastructure? Want a country that can pay for what it needs?

"Now some people will tell you that you can't always get what you want. I am here to tell you that you can and a vote for me will give you that say in Parliament.

"We need to support fiscal policy by creating new monetary policy, generating the cash flow for economy building.

"This will enable us to take tolls off roads and bridges, invest in education, invest in and provide cheap power to incentivise new business and provide to consumers plus so much more.

"How to getmonetary policy right is the biggest question that should be asked right now as so much rests on it now and in the future.

"As I set out in the last election for local issues we can use a form of direct democracy which would allow Halton to form a consensus opinion.

"That opinion can be taken to Parliament, giving more weight to your public concerns."

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